You Make It Easy To Feel Beautiful
by KaguraSerenityOgata88
Summary: Serenity has always been the ugly duckling, and Mai has never had a reason to believe in herself. Who could ever make these girls feel beautiful? A crazy yet unexpected love affair ensues! SetoxSerenity, JoeyxMai, minimal YugixTea. Rated M in later chaps.


Wow it's been what, 6 years? I decided to scrap this story and start over. Reading back on it now it's a little embarrassing. I've grown so much as a writer that I just can't stand looking at this anymore. Please review, good or bad it would mean a lot to me. I kept some of the original story in there, like how Serenity is a cook and how Mai is a smoking hot damsel dancer. Oh and in this fanfic the prize money at duelist kingdom didn't exist, so Serenity's eyes never got healed. This story has 2 main pairings but I didn't know which pairing to put up there. SetoxSerenity JoeyxMai.

You Make It Easy To Feel Beautiful

* * *

Diagnosis? A Life Doomed to Darkness

Serenity took off her glasses and felt around the table next to the stove. She was cooking dinner for 3 but tonight she decided to try something different. She wanted to prepare for the worst. Every day that went by, her sight became a little more questionable. Her worsening eyesight was very discouraging, however she was very determined to prove to herself that it would never impede her from doing anything she wanted to do. She was cooking for her family ever since she was a little girl and she would continue to do so whether she could see or not. After all, she thought being a chef was an ideal career choice. If she could condition herself not to rely on her eyes for everything, it would make her really happy. Although she was sure it would be incredibly difficult.

She smiled as she felt a small vial before grasping it in her hand and putting it under her nose. "Oregano?" After dabbing some of its contents into her fingers she was sure of her guess and put it in the boiling pot of soup and fried meat. "Damn it, where's the salt? I have to come up with an easier way to do this…"

She had been a little apprehensive about finding it because salt was a very difficult thing to smell. It has no strong odor to connect with and if she had put her nose too close to the substance she would have just ended up aggravating her nostrils and sneezing all over the place. It had been a little easier than she thought to find the salt though because she remembered that just like the Americans, she had kept it in a tall cylindrical container with a metal tab. Just to be sure it was salt, she opened the tab and placed her finger inside before putting her finger in her mouth in order to taste test it. Serenity's face scrunched up at the strong substance assaulting her taste buds, putting the salt in the soup by finger amounts before stirring slowly. She then took the stirring spoon out and lifted it to her lips.

She was very surprised at how hot the soup was and instantaneously pulled the spoon away with a slight yelp, almost dropping it. The scalding yet delicious liquid tried to burn her tongue off. _I guess this one of the things I'm going to have to get over. I never realized how much I relied on my sight to measure the temperature of the food. _She thought this as she fanned her tongue with her free hand. The soup in the spoon which had cooled down slightly was brought to Serenity's mouth once more.

"Hmm. Could use a little curry spice, but I should wait till the meat is fully simmered in the flavor first." With that, Serenity closed the pot of boiling soup and turned her attention to the items on the counter. She had memorized the scent, taste, and texture of all the spices and salts she commonly used and some of the salts and gingers that she that she used occasionally but she had to come up with a way to make everything easier to get.

She felt around and came across the container of uncooked rice. From memory, she grabbed a sizable pot from one of the hooks above the stove. She carefully but quickly measured the size of the pot with both hands and then poured the uncooked rice in before using a finger to feel from the top of the pot to the inner rim of where the rice had ceased compiling itself. There was a little too much but she supposed the extra could be used for breakfast the next morning.

Joey, arriving home an hour later, came home to find Serenity humming and singing in the kitchen. There was an incredible aroma all over the house and he could tell dinner was almost ready. He watched her set the table…with her eyes closed? His heart began to race a mile a minute. Did her eyes hurt? Was her sight getting worse? Looking at the dinner table, the dishes were in slight disarray. After placing the plates and cutleries in the right order, he joined Serenity in the kitchen and quietly observed her.

"Is that you, Joey?" Serenity inquired, hearing the sound of movement behind her. She put the ladle down and motioned for him to taste the soup.

"How did you know it was me?" A bewildered Joey, noticing her eyes were still closed and her thick black framed glasses on the counter. He put his jacket down and came to the stove.

"You have a funny way of shuffling your feet," she smiled, pointing to her ears.

"What are you doing?!" It had finally registered in Joey's mind that Serenity was attempting to cook with her eyes closed. He swiftly grabbed her wrist and the causing the bouillon cubes to fall out of her hand and onto the floor. "That's really dangerous you know! Why are you doing this?!"

Serenity made a noise of protest before opening her eyes and bending down to pick up the brown blur on the floor which she thought to be the cubed spice."Huh! Why did you do that? I know what I'm doing, Joey!"

Joey knelt down to meet her at eye level. She looked away, feeling his stare burning into her face. Her hand started to shake, possibly due to the fact that she was about so say something she knew her brother would NOT what to hear. Joey had been working 2 jobs trying to raise money for her eye operation. Yesterday, he had even told her that he was pondering quitting school and working full time. Of course he had made it seem like it has nothing to do with her but she knew better than to think that. "Joey," she said in a quiet voice, "let's give up, okay? I've decided not to get the eye operation."

"What?!" She winced, feeling the pressure of her brother raising his voice at her. "Why would you even say something like that?! Serenity, without this operation you could… you could…"

"Go blind." Serenity smiled finishing his thought feeling her brother shove her, which knocked her off her knees and onto the floor.

"Hey, don't say things like that. I haven't thought that far ahead yet! And I'm glad you think this is such a laughing matter. How can you still smile after you tell me you're not getting that operation? Hey, are you sick?" He asked, putting a hand to her forehead.

"I'm serious, Joey" She pushed his hand off with a sigh. "I don't want this operation at all! Ever since the diagnosis last month you and dad have been working non-stop. Actually, being like this is not as bad as you think. The doctor said that I would still be able to see for another year, and I still have my glasses, look!" She stood up and picked up glasses from the counter. A significant amount of the blur became clearer but she was still somewhat near-sighted. "And after a year, when my sight fades away completely I can still be a chef! Look I cooked this whole meal with my eyes closed, try it!" She grabbed a spoon from the drawer and dipped it into the soup before she brought it to the face of the now-standing Joey. "Hey let me tell you, don't look down on this, this was no easy feat but it tastes-"

Joey angrily slapped the spoon away. Serenity was shocked, stumbling back a little bit. There was a moment of silence, before Serenity smiled picking up the spoon a sigh. "It tastes like hard work you know," whispering the finished thought before looking at Joey.

"In another 10 months, we'll have enough money to save your eyesight. I'm working very hard, with this thought in my head every minute of every day. But now you're telling me you won't do it, how do you think that makes me feel! Why are you doing this, huh?! Is it to see me worry about you? Or is it to let me know that as your older brother I am completely useless to you?"

"You know I didn't mean-"

"I know that! But still!" Joey was almost at a loss for words. He turned his back to her. "Serenity, you and dad are all I have! I promised mom that I would protect you. But did you know, seeing you every day like this, bumping into things left and right, smiling and suppressing yourself like nothing's wrong, without a single complaint, it really makes my heart ache! In my mind, I look for someone to blame but there's no one but myself. That it's you, and not me, feeling like I can't help you really hurts…" Joey turned to give her a glance and found her looking down at the floor. "The life of the blind is really hard, and really unfortunate. It's really no joke. I won't let you say and do such depressing things. Just believe in me, there's no way I can let you lose your eyesight, I swear it."

Serenity didn't say anything as Joey walked out of the kitchen. Luckily the food didn't get burned as she quickly filled the plate. She was in a daze thinking of what her brother said. She heard the front door open and close, a tired groan bringing her to her senses. "Dad?" She put the pot down on the stove and ran to give her father a hug.

The Wheeler children really love and admire their dad. Thomas Wheeler is a very hard-working, steadfast, and diligent person. Though his office job didn't give him many benefits, he soon worked his way up to assistant supervisor. As a single dad, he spent long hours at work so he could provide for his family. Yet he always said he would have it no other way. There was no one who could ever replace his kids in his life. His sacrifice never went unnoticed by them. In their eyes, he was the world's greatest dad. (**a/n:** I'm so sick of the generic abusive alcoholic dad. Could anyone let me know if the wheeler dad is an abusive alcoholic, in the actual show?)

"What did you make tonight, Serenity? It smells great…" He placed a hand on his neck, massaging the nooks and crannies a bit before sitting down at the table.

"Well the soup is a Serenity original but I cooked it with chicken and salmon. There's rice on the side but I think it tastes a lot better when you put the rice in the soup." Serenity said grinning. The dining table was small just the way Serenity preferred it. There was a certain closeness when her dad sat at the end of the table with both his children on either side of him. It was made of oak and had many unique carvings on the four legs. Serenity often thought of them to be cute and traced her fingers along them while eating. Joey came down the stairs for dinner with a notebook and pen in hand. He had to go back to work in an hour, this was the only time he would have to do his homework for school tomorrow. He routinely did his homework at the table while keeping up with dinner conversation but tonight was different. The usually talkative Joey had nothing to say as he went in between solving math problems and playing with his food. Meanwhile Dad gave his exaggerated compliments on the food while laughing and joking about things that happened at work.

"Something on your mind, Joey?" His father had noticed his change in behavior. Joey simply shook his head not even looking up. His father directed more icebreaker questions towards him which he responded with 'yes' or 'no'. "How does dinner taste?" His father inquired as he put a spoonful of rice and sipping on some soup.

Joey looked up from his notebook, slightly annoyed. However, when he saw Serenity's questioning look, his expression softened. "It tastes really good. I didn't think it could taste this good. You've really got talent, kid." He looked down at the food while Serenity laughed sheepishly in response.

"Didn't think it could taste this good? My daughter is a 5 star chef," Thomas said proudly.

To his surprise, Joey stood up. "I gotta go to work." He put his notebook in his bag.

"But you've barely touched your food," his father protested.

"You can have it, dad. Don't want to waste Serenity's hard work," Joey zipped up his jacket and left for work to the slight dismay of his sister and father.

"Did you and Joey get into a fight, Serenity?" Thomas raised an eyebrow while questioning his daughter.

Serenity gave him a nervous laugh while looking at her plate. "You could say that. I think… I might have… hurt his feelings..." Serenity shoved a mouthful of food in her mouth. "Though I thought he would understand my feelings once he tasted how hard I worked on dinner…"

"Hurt his feelings? Is that even possible? That rascal, he's always acting like a tough guy," his father reached over and grabbed Joey's half-eaten plates. "You know he's always doted on you and let you have your way. It's very strange of him to act this way. What happened?"

"It's a long story, I don't want to get into it lest I lose my appetite," Serenity replied. Serenity quickly finished her food, feeling her dad stare, and then cleared the table preparing to do the dishes."You should take a nap, dad. You should start taking better care of yourself. I can see you starting to gray…

"Hey, hey! I'm still hip, I'm not that old. I took on longer hours so that I can hopefully get a raise, or a promotion. But that doesn't mean I'm pushing ros-" Thomas was interrupted by the sound of a broken plate. "Serenity?" He ran into the kitchen, and found shattered glass on the floor.

"I'm sorry, I just-" Serenity bent down to pick up the pieces.

"Don't you dare touch it! What were to happen if you injured your delicate hands?" her dad fell to his knees and began cleaning up the mess.

"I'm sorry, Dad. I was just really surprised. Why did you take on longer hours? Is that why I get to see you less? Why does everyone have to work so hard because of me?"

Thomas saw his daughter's frown and panicked a bit. "Hey! Did I say it was for you?" His eyes shifted. "It's just that economy is so bad nowadays, the bills and interest loans are getting bigger. If I don't work a few extra hours, we'll lose this house. It's not because of you, don't feel bad, alright? Now go, go and do your homework, I'll clean this up, ok?" He pushed her gently out of the kitchen.

* * *

Serenity closed her bedroom door behind her placing her back against it with a sigh. Her room was very small and comfy. The bed was across the room from the door and there was a sizable window with plaid purple curtains above it. Her carpet was a royal purple, so were her sheets and pillows. The whole room had been complimented with light lavender painted walls and purple roses printed on them. Slowly walking to her full-length mirror, she took a look at what she was wearing: a rainbow-colored sweater with bright green slacks and purple socks that were at different lengths. She pushed up her think black-framed glasses and pulled her hair out of her messy side ponytail bun. Her sense of fashion had always been questionable, but the type of clothes she wore was very much comfortable. Though unique, she considered it to be quite logical. For instance, in this cold weather, by wearing every color possible, she would better absorb heat than wearing one color. (**a/n:** I'm sure you people know that doesn't make any kind of sense. If she wanted maximum heat just wear black. What a funny girl she is, huh?) Sure she knew she could just wear black but black is so dark and depressing, Serenity was simply not that kind of girl. (**a/n: **a silly fashion disaster she is.)

_5:30 huh?_ She thought as she looked at the clock. She pulled out her homework and sat at her desk. After a couple hours she went a plopped herself face first on her bed, nuzzling her face into her pillow…

"_Serenity! Where are you?!" Angela called into the smoke-filled house as the flames rose higher. There wasn't much time. She dropped her groceries as the neighbors tried to stop her from going inside. Fruits and vegetables spilled out of the bag, oranges rolled across their feet .A complete frenzy outside as everyone waited for the firefighters and paramedics to arrive. She panicked and began crying, screaming "Serenity!! Please, if you can hear me, say something!! Where are you?! Please be safe!" Begging god for her safety, she ran to the garden and dumped a whole bucket of water on herself. She then went to the entrance and flung the door open. Amber flames began spilling out of the home, traveling up the outside walls and the bushes out front. A hand grasped her wrist, stopping her from moving any further._

"_Angela, it's too dangerous to go back inside," Takeshi, her friend from work, told her. "Please don't go in! Wait for the fire fighters to get here!"_

"_Let go of me!" she screamed ripping her wrist away. "My daughter is still in there! Are you telling me to leave her behind?! I'm sorry Takeshi-san, I can't do it, I've got to find her…" She jumped over the flames and ran deeper into the house. "Serenity!" _

_The little girl could hear her mother running up the stairs calling her name over and over again. She slowly opened the closet door and crawled out. She looked to her left and gasped in shock as she saw an angry blaze that engulfed half the room, inching closer and closer to her with every passing second. The heat was suffocating, the flames roaring ferociously, the voice of a little girl trapped within, the sparks of a crumbling room, a ceiling about to give way, Serenity put her small hands over her head and screamed._

_Gentle arms wrapped around crying Serenity and quickly carried her away. "Don't be afraid, Serenity. I'm here. Everything's going to be alright…" Her mother was running back down the stairs looking for a place they could escape. The black fumes from the fire were toxic so Angela knew she has to stay low. She took off her wet jacket and wrapped it around Serenity and wandered through house looking for an exit. Soon they were surrounded with no way out._

"_Mom! Look out!" Serenity pointed to the fiery beams above them that looked like they were about to fall. The both of them hit the floor, the fiery beams showered down around them... "Mom!"_

_Mom…_

_Mom…_

"MOM!" The Wheeler daughter bolted upright in the bed, panting hard. She looked around no longer surrounded by the ignited blaze but the comfort of her cozy room. She put a hand to her forehead, feeling the dampness of a cold sweat. It had been a long time since she had dreamt of such things. Placing her feet on the ground, Serenity got up steadily surveying her room but even when she squinted, everything was still a blur. She grabbed her glasses and put it on, taking a look at her alarm clock. "10:35?! How long was I napping? The girl yawned really loudly while stretching out her arms, shaking the demons out of her head. _I'm really thirsty…_she thought. She was heading for the door when she stubbed her toe on her desk and ended up tripping because of it. "Ow!" A painful sensation radiated through her foot. After a few minutes of rubbing the assaulted area she got up, limping ever so slightly out the door.

She could hear voices as she trudged down the hall which she determined to be coming from the living room. Still feeling sluggish, she leisurely treaded down the stairs until she realized that the conversation she was overhearing was about her…

* * *

"Dad… Serenity she's… she's given up completely… Today I came home and she was cooking dinner with her eyes closed! She even told me that she didn't even want the operation. What are we going to do? She's too stubborn…

His father's eyes widened in surprise. "Is that why you've been in a bad mood all day? Have you ever thought she was trying to save face?" he asked with a tired sigh.

"It doesn't look that way to me! It looks like she's throwing the towel!" Joey sat down on the couch next to his father. Less than ten seconds later he got right back up and continued pacing around the living room slowly. "Dad, it's just that… I'm her older brother. I've been there for her all this time… but I wasn't careful enough. How can a brother that spends all his time with her not notice a problem as big as this? If I had caught on earlier-"

"Joseph Wheeler. Stop it. How can you say that?"

"It's my fault! It's all my fault and now she might blind, not just for a day," he rubbed his head, grabbing a fistful of hair in frustration, "it's forever. It would be a lot easier if she blamed me, hit me, yelled at me, something! After all these are all the things I want to do to myself, and yet she simply laughs like everything's fine. I may not be the most exceptional guy out there, and my fists cause trouble wherever they go but me not being able to help her… me not being able to fix this… it would be the biggest failure of my life, something that I could never forgive myself for."

"Son, this is no time to be blaming yourself. You and that girl are too headstrong! One who blames himself, the other who chooses to ignore this issue altogether. Too ridiculous! When all is said and done, no one is to blame for this, save your strength for other things, Joey." It's not like Thomas didn't understand where his children's stubbornness came from. He too was the same way.

He secretly never forgave himself for his past willfulness. Back then, because of a mutual misunderstanding he and his wife decided to get a divorce. She took Serenity while he kept Joseph. He never stopped loving her though, the day he was determined to patch things up with her, he was greeted with a raging fire. He would be doomed to never seeing the woman he loves again. The sole survivor of that fire was his daughter, Serenity, whose mother had used her own body to shield her from the flames. If only he had talked things through, if only he had made it work, she would still be here. Since then, Serenity has been living with them. 8 years have already passed.

"After all, there's seriously no more time to waste, I got a call from the doctor today."

"What do you mean by that?"

"What I mean is," his father took a sip of his coffee, "If Serenity doesn't get this operation in 5 months or less, irreversible eye damage will begin."

Joey was still for a good minute. When what he was just told finally reached the deepest processes of his brain he plopped down on the armchair and buried his face in his hands. "I knew something like this would happen. I guess I better drop out of school and work full-time after all…"

He looked up hearing his dad coughing wheezingly choking slightly on his coffee, clearly startled by what Joey had said. "Don't talk nonsense" His father stated putting a hand on his chest and trying to catch his breath.

"How else are we supposed to come up with 4,000,000+ yen (about 400,000USD) in 5 months or less?"

"I can use my retirement fund. I have about two million save up in there. I can also ask for a raise. We could also sell this house for about a million too…"

"Even at that dad, we would still need 1,200,000 yen after that. People can even make that in a year. I think I should quit school and work full-time. It would only be for e a few months righ-" he stopped noticing Serenity at the foot of the stairs.

If that weren't alarming enough she looked really angry. She gradually walked into the living room with her arms crossed over her chest. "I can't believe you guys would do all of this for me…" her eyes were brimmed with salty tears, threatening to spill over. Joey was taken aback by this. The Serenity who was always smiling, who was always kindly encouraging, the serenity who rarely seemed sad, she was…crying. She began hitting Joey in the chest over and over again. "Who told you to blame yourself, huh?! Who was the idiot who told you I blamed you, huh?!" There was a gentle stream of water trickling down her face. "Why do you want me to feel guilty?! Why do you want me to hate myself even more, huh?!"

Joey grasped her hands, stopping her punches. "I never knew you felt this way… we just wanted to help you. I didn't mean for you to get so upset, sis…"

"Help what?!" She ripped her hands away, placing them at her sides. "Help me realize how selfish I am?! Help me throw my pride away?!"

"Yes! Throw your pride away! You are being very selfish!" Her father stood up, perplexity shown on his features. "Stop yelling at your brother, there is no one here who's more hurt than him!"

"I…" Serenity's voice was breaking as she backed up a bit, shocked at the way she was behaving.

"What am I supposed to say to your mother if I don't take good care of you? But you've never for one day told us how you feel! We're your family, there for you to lean on, yet you continue to push us away! Isn't that called selfishness?"

"I didn't ask for this to happen to me, Dad! Of course, it's very scary! When I think of being doomed to a life without color… to a life of complete darkness, it's frightening! But I can handle it! It's not the end of the world, after all I'm still alive! What's much scarier than that is seeing you come home tired every day, giving up your future security, or seeing Joey drop out of school and ruin his future because of me!" Tears continued to stream down her face. "That's terrifying! To know that I've become such burden… I can't take it…I can take anything but that!" she sniffled. "You guys are the people I love most… I don't want to see you overwork yourself with long hours or Joey doing all these odd jobs! I don't want your lives to be hard because of me, and that's why I've really hated the person I've become!" She buried her face in her hands and started bawling. What could else Joey do, other than hug her tightly and try to calm her down? What else could he do other than quiet her sobs and let her know how important she was to him? What could he do but to tell her that his sister was one of the sweetest, kindest, one of the best people he had ever known? Above everything else, he simply wanted to protect her smile…

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That's the end of Chapter One. What do you think? Please review. Next chapter I think you guys will be very surprised to find out who Serenity's long-time secret crush is, as well as her life at school. As well as who might have a crush on her! Won't it be interesting to see how this story unfolds? I'll try to update with the month. Or rather before Valentine's Day which is coming up too. So I'll try to portray that in the fanfic too. ^_^


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